World Youth Day

The Holy Father Francis, desiring that young people in union with the spiritual aims of the Year of Faith proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI, might obtain the hoped-for fruits of holiness from the 28th World Youth day to be celebrated from 22 to 29 of the coming month of July in Rio de Janeiro, whose theme is: “Go and make disciples of all nations”, at the Audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Major Penitentiary on 3 June, expressing the maternal heart of the Church, from the Treasury of the rewards of Our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary and of all the Saints, has permitted that the youth and all the faithful who are properly prepared may receive the give of the Indulgences as follows...
-Decree of Special Indulgence by the Apostolic Penitentiary

A plenary indulgence can be gained by those who participate in World Youth Dayand fulfill the usual conditions (sacramental confession, receiving the Eucharist, and prayer for the Pope’s intentions)  A partial indulgence is gained by any of the faithful who pray the World Youth Day prayer and invoke the Blessed Mother under her title “Nossa Senhora de Conceicao Aparecida” (this is Portuguese roughly translated “Our Lady of Conception who Appeared), and fulfill the normal conditions.

I encourage you to gain the partial indulgence and to pray for all those participating in World Youth Day.  It’s a tremendous thing to have so many of the world’s Catholic youth gathered together, excited for their faith, and given special attention and care by their Holy Father.  Apparently there was some prince born across the pond, but in other news somewhere between 1 and 2.5 million young Catholics are expected to be in Rio with the Holy Father.  Every charter bus in Argentina is booked for the event in Brazil.  The church is very much alive and excited.  There are ways to catch some of the event online, and it would be a great thing to be united in prayer with so many young faithful.  I still remember seeing John Paul II in St. Louis, and Benedict in Washington DC, it’s a powerful experience to be gathered with so many faithful, and to be in the presence of the successor of Peter.  Even though we aren’t there, we can share in the excitement, and the grace that comes with so large a gathering of the world’s faithful.

Oh Father, You sent Your Eternal Son to save the world, and You chose men and women, so that through Him, with Him and in Him, they might proclaim the Good News of the Gospel to all nations.  Grant us the necessary graces, so that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the joy of being the evangelist that the Church needs in the Third Millennium may shine in the faces of all young people.Oh Christ, Redeemer of humanity, the image of Your open arms on the top of Corcovado, welcomes all people.  In Your paschal offering, You led us, by the Holy Spirit, to encounter the Father as His children.  Young people, who are nourished by the Eucharist, who hear You in Your Word and meet You as their brother, need your infinite mercy to walk along the paths of this world as disciples and missionaries of the New Evangelization.O Holy Spirit, Love of the Father and of the Son, with the splendor of Your Truth and the fire of Your Love, shed Your Light upon all young people so that, inspired by their experience at World Youth Day, they may bring faith, hope and charity to the four corners of the earth, becoming great builders of a culture of life and peace and catalysts of a new world. Amen.
-Official Prayer of World Youth Day 2013

-Fr. Benjamin F. Green